AN EXTRA £4.5 million has been found for Medway’s schools, but council tax will remain one of the lowest in the country.

Those were the chief outcomes of Medway Council’s decision to increase council tax by 10.78 per cent last night. Just a week ago the cabinet was recommending a 12.5 per cent increase.

The average band D householder will have to pay £824.49 for council services. On top of that will be parish and police precepts.

The average policing bill is £94.95. Parish councils will collect between £6.53 (Frindsbury Extra) and £42.33 (St James Isle of Grain).

The debate lasted nearly four hours. The winners were the protestors who included thousands of teachers, parents and governors, unhappy at the shortfall in schools' budgets.

National Association of Head Teachers spokesman Keith Williams, head of the Rochester Math School, said after the meeting: “It is significantly better for schools than it was a little over three hours ago.” But he estimated there was still a £1.8 million shortfall.

Labour councillors were unhappy that a £4 million series of proposals to increase spending on roads by £614,000, CCTV, school playgrounds, sports grounds and car parking was rejected.

They abstained from voting for the budget even though one of their proposals, £1.5 million for children with special education needs, was adopted as part of the package of education plans. The extra money for education also includes £1 million from reserves and £2 million agreed by the cabinet.